Eli Paperboy Reed returns with Getting There, a new collection of deep soul and roots music produced by the one and only Swamp Dogg. After spending recent years interpreting the music of others, including Merle Haggard on Down Every Road and a collection of soul favorites on Hits And Misses, Reed puts his own songwriting front and center again, delivering 11 originals alongside two carefully chosen covers.

For nearly two decades, Reed has built his career on a love of classic soul, gospel and R&B, powered by a voice that can move from a pleading croon to a full-throated howl in a heartbeat. On Getting There, those influences remain at the core, but the songs reach further into country, folk and rock & roll while Reed turns his attention toward love from a decidedly grown-up perspective.

Produced by legendary soul eccentric Swamp Dogg, Getting There looks at what happens after the initial rush of romance gives way to everyday life. These are songs about sticking together, raising a family, weathering the rough patches and figuring out how to keep a relationship going for the long haul. Reed brings plenty of humor to the subject, but there's also a tenderness and hard-earned wisdom running through the record.

The title track captures that idea especially well, following its narrator from childhood through romance and eventually parenthood, with a father's advice passed from one generation to the next. Elsewhere, songs including "Every Once In A While," "Asking For A Friend," "Like We Used To," "How Can I Forget" and "Hardworking People" give Reed plenty of room to testify, while "Love You More" features Zaniah and "One Man's Trash (Is Another Man's Treasure)" brings Swamp Dogg out from behind the board to join him.

Twenty years into a career devoted to soul music, Eli Paperboy Reed sounds like a man who's learned that growing older doesn't mean turning down the heat. Getting There is about love after the fireworks, when keeping something alive takes patience, humor and a little work. And Reed sounds mighty good doing that work.